Moroccan Protesters Call to Boycott Elections

Thousands of people gathered in Casablanca, where they demonstrated against the government and threatened to boycott the upcoming elections.

By Elad Benari

First Publish: 9/26/2011, 8:25 AM

Thousands of people gathered in Morocco’s largest city on Sunday, where they demonstrated against the government and threatened to boycott the upcoming elections.

The Associated Press reported that the weekly demonstration by the pro-democracy February 20 movement attracted around 10,000 people in Casablanca, making it the largest demonstration in months.

The march took place in the lower income neighborhood of Sbata, said AP, where in May pro-democracy demonstrators were attacked and beaten by police.

The marchers reportedly chanted, “Once we were beaten here, now we have returned.” They shouted for greater freedoms and an end to government corruption.

Morocco was swept with popular protests calling for reform early in the year, inspired by the Arab Spring. King Mohammed VI later announced that his country will revise its constitution for the first time in 15 years. This caused the protests to die down.